Wild finish helps Rice top TCU

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, February 12, 2006

For the first six innings of Saturday night's game against No. 21 TCU, the Rice Owls didn't look like the nation's No. 5 team.

The Horned Frogs had battered their pitching and silenced their bats for most of the game, but Rice had a breakthrough in the bottom of the eight. In that half-frame, the Owls sent 11 batters to the plate and came away with seven runs off four TCU pitchers, giving them a 12-6 come-from-behind win in the final game of the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park. The seven runs scored in one inning tied a Classic record that was set by Rice back in 2002.

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Rice reliever Cole St.Claire (1-0) picked up the victory after tossing 1 2/3 innings of solid pitching, giving up only one hit and no runs while striking out two. Of the seven pitchers used by TCU (2-1) for the game, Shawn Ferguson (1-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up two hits and three runs (two earned) with three walks over 1 1/3 inning.

The two teams battled to a scoreless tie through the first 3 1/2 innings before Rice (4-1) took the initiative. With one out remaining in the bottom of the fourth, Rice catcher Danny Lehmann shot a double down the left field foul line and came around to score on teammate Adam Zornes' single to center, giving the Owls a 1-0 lead. However, there wouldn't be much small ball played after that.

TCU would respond to Rice's score by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth, two of them coming on Pack's mammoth blast that also scored teammate Austin Adams. The Horned Frogs added another run on Keith Conlon's RBI-single to left field that drove in Steven Trout, giving TCU a 4-1 lead.

Rice would cut the deficit to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the fifth before the Horned Frogs scored again in the top of the sixth. After Rice reliever Bobby Bramhall retired the first two batters, he was relieved by Bryan Price who gave up a single to Adams. The next batter, Pack, yanked Price's first offering into the Crawford Boxes for a two-run home run, his second of the game, giving TCU a 6-2 lead.

The Owls came back in the bottom of the sixth, putting their first two runners on base against TCU starter Brad Furnish. Rice skipper Wayne Graham pinch hit Josh Rodriguez for Tyler Henley, and Rodriguez blasted a 0-1 offering from Furnish just above the Crawford Boxes for a three-run shot that sliced the Horned Frogs' lead to 6-5.

The Horned Frogs would hold their slim 6-5 advantage until the eight inning, when Ferguson allowed the first three batters to reach base, and was pulled for Brent Allar, who gave up an RBI single to Rice's Brian Friday to tie the game at 6-6. After that, things started to unravel for TCU who would not record their first out of the inning until Rice had scored five more runs to take a 11-6 lead. By then, the game had been decided.